Understanding the way our body works is one of the foundations of modern medicine, since the publishing of the first high resolution protein structure in 1958 observations of proteins and enzymes have taught us much about the inner workings of our very being. To understand disease and health we need to understand the immune system, how its proteins, cells and other components interact at a molecular level with threats such as toxins and invading microbes. Observing these interactions at a cellular and molecular level has opened many doors so far in the development of drugs and treatments for disease and yet so many things remain unknown.

This is what the Centre for Advanced Molecular Imaging is all about—developing and using innovative microscopy and imaging techniques to observe the details of how cells and molecules function and interact at the molecular level.

This highly collaborative Centre brings together biologists, physicists and chemists from five Australian universities, the University of Warwick in the UK, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), synchrotrons in Australia and Germany and several high-tech companies.

The centre aims to pioneer the next generation of imaging at the atomic, molecular, cellular and whole animal levels. Our work conducted within the centre at La Trobe University, the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication and the MicroNano Research Facility covers a broad range of topics including the development of nanoscale plasmonic devices, microfluidics and X-ray optics.

In this presentation I will provide an overview our aims and ambitions for the next 7 years with a focus on the expertise available at La Trobe University and the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication. This branch of the centre is divided into four collaborative research groups which focus on X-ray free electron lasers, nanofabrication, visible light optics and synchrotron experiments, respectively.

For large scale scientific projects it is becoming increasingly important to draw on the skills and expertise of the global scientific community to both provide solutions and identify interesting challenges to be overcome. This seminar aims to enable the development of international collaborations between Europe and Australia by providing an outline of our expertise and capabilities and opening the lines of communications.